


The stars are calling him

by Ember_Hinote, WyrdWeaver



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Stars, soft, unbeta-ed so we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 16:58:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16433309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ember_Hinote/pseuds/Ember_Hinote, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyrdWeaver/pseuds/WyrdWeaver
Summary: Inspired by both "Teach me your mood o patient stars" by Ralph Waldo Emerson and "Somebody has to: by Shel SilversteinThe stars will often beckon Keith to join them but Lance will always be there to keep him grounded.





	The stars are calling him

The stars are calling him. 

Beckoning him closer and closer. 

There is so much that he has to do. So much is on his mind. The stars. 

They’re calling for him. 

There are moments, tiny little pockets of time, where Keith just wants to run away from his duties. 

As a pilot. 

As a blade. 

As a paladin. 

But those stars. They are calling his name and asking for him to come join them. Keith often finds himself wondering whether or not to accept their call and fly off into the night sky or to stay grounded with his team and fly when they must. 

He knows that he should not run away. He is a paladin of Voltron and most importantly, he is the black paladin. He is the leader of Voltron. Running away is not supposed to even be an option for him unless it is for a strategic retreat in order to regroup and reevaluate the current strategy. He was the red paladin before becoming the black paladin. He was hot headed and expected to charge first into battle, something that he originally brought when he first became the black paladin. Keith should be the first one there in order to minimize the damage done to his comrades but sometimes, sometimes he just wants to retreat and runaway from the battle. 

Life has been tough enough as if. His father died when he was young. He grew up without his mother and just recently found her again. He was labeled a problem child everywhere he went until Shiro took him in and gave him a reason to even try. He did not have any real friends growing up and often got into fights no matter how hard he tried to fit and in and “behave.” But that was just his cut in life. 

Now was better. Now he has a family in the paladins of Voltron. His mother – Krolia – is now in his life and is leading the Blade of Marmora alongside Kolivan. His brother – Shiro – is back, alive and well, and the Captain of the Atlas. He is a highly respected man by the Galaxy Garrison as he is the paladin of the Black Lion of Voltron. He has family, respect, and prestige; all things that he just dreamed about as a child. 

So why does he feel that he needs to runaway now? Why does he still feel the need to runaway? To escape from everything and to go hiding? 

To remedy this, he goes to do maintenance on the Black Lion. Black takes him to the stars and allows him to fight in her helm so it is the least that he can do. So whenever he feels like running away, he grabs a rag and some jars of polish and gets to work on Black. 

* * *

He watches as Keith runs off to the Black Lion once more. He has been doing that a lot lately and Lance has become a little worried. Why is Keith trying to run away once more? Is he not happy with that he has now? 

Lance understands the sort of pressure that Keith is under as his right hand man but not in its entirety. He knows that in “official” briefings that Keith is the face of the Paladins and therefore the main representative of Voltron. Not that he or the other Paladins are less important but there is more focus on their leader than the rest of them.

But there is also the knowledge of Keith being part galra that has been released to the public. Though the majority of the coalition and Earth is fine with this knowledge, there are still those who are wary because of their past experiences with the Galra. Lance is aware of this and how Keith tries his hardest to keep his appearance together in public but it all takes a toll on him. He does not blame Keith for wanting to run away for the responsibility.

So he goes and follows silently after Keith, extra rags, polish, food, and water in hand. He cannot rely on Keith to remember to take care of himself in all of his stresses. Especially with Shiro busy, Krolia away, and Kolivan trying to gather what remains of the Blade of Marmora. With the exception of the other Paladins, there is no one out there to make sure that Keith is okay.

Making sure that Keith is okay, that was a thought. Lance thinks back to when they were just starting out as paladins and how Keith would often charge headfirst into danger without a second thought or care about his fellow paladins. Though Keith still charges headfirst into danger, Lance will always follow close behind him and Keith will make sure not to endanger his comrades. That and he’s assured them that he would quickly return. 

“Lance? What are you doing here?”

He looks up and sees Keith looking back at him, still polishing the front right paw of the Black Lion. His hair is tied back in a ponytail and a confused looks forms on his face. Keith’s hand slowly comes to a stop as he stands up straight and looks over at Lance who lifts his basket of items in response.

“Thought you might want some company?” says Lance with an earnest smile. 

Keith looks him up and down before shrugging and Lance makes his way over. There is silence for a minute as he and Keith continue to work on polishing Black’s paw when Keith breaks the silence. 

“Why?”

Lance looks up and over at Keith curiously. “Why not?”

“You don’t have to do this.”

“True,” hums Lance, “I don’t have to do anything. I just want to.”

“But why?”

Lance can only smile back at him. “Because sometimes, your actions tell me more about your mood than your words do.

There is silence once more as Keith goes back to polishing Black’s paw. 

“Hey Lance?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, Keith.”

**Author's Note:**

> WHOO! So funny story about this fic, I legitimately almost forgot about it because of how hectic and overall busy life has been for me this past month. But hey! We're here now aren't we! Sliding into the Klance Poetry Exchange at the very last minute with a fic for the lovely http://lunchmoney-lance.tumblr.com/


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